The Cheetah and the Aardvark

During a scorching summer afternoon, a cheetah hatched a brilliant idea. To shade himself from the sun, he would build a roof over his head. The cheetah figured leaves and twigs could do the trick. He began gathering some around the area. While doing so, he crossed paths with an Aardvark sitting under a tree. The Cheetah asked, “Have you seen any leaves and twigs? I want to build a roof for shade.” The Aardvark responded, “A roof for shade? Why, just come and sit under this tree with me.” The cheetah looked starkly at the Aardvark for this statement but tried to hide his expression. “No thank you, there’s no way that tree’s going to shade me like my roof would.” The cheetah walked away. After a bit, he had enough materials and built his roof. The sun was blocked by a swarm of leaves held up by stacks of twigs. It was certainly cooler, and yet, the Cheetah was not pleased. He looked out at the horizon and saw the heat bleeding through the open sides of his roof. His roof needed walls to block out all the mugginess. He began searching for large chunks of bark, and it wasn’t long before he saw the Aardvark once again. The Aardvark was in a lake now. “Have you seen any stray pieces of bark around, Aardvark?” The Aardvark looked at him confused. “Adding more to the roof? Why, just hop into the cool water.” The Cheetah scoffed at him and stormed off. The sun had been beating over the lake the whole day, there’s no way his roof wasn’t cooler. He foraged and worked for hours on end, getting not only more bark but just anything to perfect his shaded base. Finally, after several hours, it was complete. The Cheetah had been building from the inside for a while, so he thought he should step back outside for a moment. When he stepped out, a shock hit his spine. It was night, and it was cold and windy. He looked back at the shack and saw the leaves being blown off, one by one, layer by layer.